playing (around)

verb

present participle of play (around)
as in fooling around

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for playing (around)
  1. fooling around
  2. screwing around
  3. stepping out
Verb
  • Zeus did not approve of his daughter fooling around with this mortal roughneck hunter and put out a hit on Orion.
    — Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 8 Mar. 2026
  • The transition was rough for Ansari, who wasn’t fluent in English and often got in trouble for fooling around in school.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Definition of fooling around
Verb
  • The informative thing was Lestat screwing around with me.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 23 June 2026
  • Mercedes is truly not screwing around with the new EQS.
    — Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 13 Apr. 2026
Definition of screwing around
Verb
  • Styles, who kicked off an extensive 30-night run at New York’s Madison Square Garden last month as part of his international Together, Together tour, was spotted stepping out in black, low-profile leather loafers.
    — Mariana Best, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2026
  • In a dash camera video shared by police, an officer can be seen stepping out quickly from a patrol vehicle as Ross was seen running in the street.
    — Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of stepping out
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

playing
playing (around)
playing ball
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Playing (around).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/playing%20%28around%29. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All